Category: history

“Sometimes, as I drift idly on Walden Pond, I cease to live and begin to be.” When Henry David Thoreau wrote these words in the mid 1800s, he was lamenting American materialism that was becoming ever more apparent in the wake of the Industrial Age. Now, almost two hundred years …

Jackie Chase is a driven woman. Where others enjoy the comforts of home, Chase gets out there and lives life. In 100 People to Meet Before You Die: Travel to Exotic Cultures, Chase shares her adventures with the aim of visiting people who live their lives, for the most part, …

If this were your last breath, would you feel comfortable dying? What happens when your body dies – is your soul transformed into energy? These are only two thought-provoking questions H. Richard Steinhoff asks us to consider in his book titled Dying On Purpose which documents his Near-Death Experience or …

In “I Had Jelly on my Nose and a Hole in my Breeches”; Robert McNally begins part of one of his three-book trilogy with “Dad, Mom, my sister Judy and I lived in the ‘little red house’ on Crematory Hill”. Robert was born in October 1932, and by his third …

“Everyone’s life is a series of decisions, each of which affects those that follow”. Ben Bedford In 1932, the twin trials of the dust bowl and the depression made life difficult for all, especially in the high plains of the United States. Ben Bedford, whose only capital consisted of “his …

What does it mean to be a good daughter? What does it mean to be a good mother? In this practical and heartbreaking tribute about mothers and daughters and saying goodbye, Alison Melotti-Cormack documents time spent with her mother, sister and niece in July 2013 as they work together, seeing …

Susanna Janssen is a foreign language educator who lives and teaches in Northern California. Thanks to Wordstruck!, we all can now enjoy the words of humor and learning that have benefited the readers of her column, A Word in Edgewise, published by the Ukiah Daily Journal in Ukiah, California. …

It’s an age-old question for many of us: What do we want to be when we grow up? Goethe encourages us with “Whatever you can do or dream you can do, begin it,” and Joseph Campbell tells us to “Follow our bliss.” In Love Your Life: Cultivating Your …

A Farming Family in the New World: The Barnard Family Saga in America 1679-2005 by CA Coffey is an interesting family biography. It is a family genealogy that has been researched very well. This book is geared more for this family and I think would mean much more to them …

Reviewed by Ray Simmons for Readers’ Favorite This is a very important book. Mein Name Ist Peter Dietrich is important and timely, in part because of the argument about the value and importance that immigration plays in this great American experience. This is the authentic story of Peter Dietrich, but in many …